For more than 30 years, the St. Aidan Festival has been a local summertime tradition, drawing in thousands for fun, food, fellowship and maybe even a little bit of faith.
The festival draws around 10,000 people over the four days, with this year’s event held from July 31 to Aug. 3 at the St. Alexis campus at 10090 Perry Highway in McCandless.
“We are centrally located in North Hills which provides easy access to people coming from many directions. Also, through the years we have developed a reputation for offering good, clean, affordable fun for our community,” Kristin Chick, who’s chairing this year’s festival, said. “We have a fantastic group of core volunteers who assist in making every aspect of the festival a really amazing experience.”
Proceeds from the festival are split between the youth programs in the parish’s Faith Formation program and its affiliated school, Blessed Francis of Seelos Academy in Pine.
Festival hours are 5 to 10 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, and 5 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
The festival features live entertainment, carnival rides and games, bingo, a “kiddieland,” and outdoor food booths and indoor dining with themed dinners such as Italian Night and Texas BBQ. There is also will be outdoor pub for those 21 and older.
The entertainment lineup includes Michelle’s Dance Studio at 5:30 p.m. and the Throttle Junkies at 7:30 p.m. July 31, Bell School of Irish Dance at 6 p.m. and the Vogues at 8 p.m. Aug. 1, the North Allegheny Fiddlers at 6 p.m. and BB Steal at 8 p.m. Aug. 2, and 729ers at 6 p.m. and Dancing Queen at 8 p.m. Aug. 3.
St. Aidan offers a bus shuttle with parking at the nearby North Allegheny High School, 10375 Perry Highway. Guests to will be dropped off at the main entrance of the festival, and shuttles will run regularly throughout the entire event.
Volunteers are needed in a variety of areas, including working outdoor food and beverage booths, game booths, raffle and cash prize ticket sales, indoor dining, and campus setup and cleanup. Those interested in volunteering can email festival@saintaidanparish.com or call 724-935-4343.
Prior to the festival and also well-attended is the annual St. Aidan flea market, which will be held on July 20 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. and July 21 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Shoppers can find tables full of items at the former St. Alexis Church building at the same location of the festival.
Donna Bartlett, who is in charge of the flea market, said the variety is huge.
“We have a ton of stuff. We have all sorts of household things, toys, books, even a few antique vintage items. Just a little bit of everything,” she said.
Bartlett thinks it is well-visited because of the way everything is methodically organized.
“We work very hard to sort everything, displaying very nicely, clean items. Don’t sell things that are broken,” she said.
Chick said the market is “wildly popular”:
“People line up outside the event space hours before opening to snag the best options.”
For more information, visit saintaidanparish.org/festival.
Natalie Beneviat is a Trib Total Media contributing writer.